Substitute Senate Bill 6014 amends RCW 49.92.020 and adds a new section to chapter 42.56 RCW to regulate employer practices and records related to pregnancyor childbirth-related health conditions. It lists employer unfair practices involving failure to provide reasonable accommodations, taking adverse action for requesting or using accommodations, denying opportunities because an employee needs accommodations, and requiring leave when another reasonable accommodation is possible. Employers may request written certification from the employee’s treating health care professional for need of reasonable accommodation except for certain listed accommodations referenced to RCW 49.92.010(6)(a), (b), (d), and (h) and an editorial reference to limits on lifting over 17 pounds; the bill also states employers are not required to create new positions or move employees they would not otherwise move to accommodate pregnancy unless they do so for other classes of employees. The bill requires that break time and employer-identified travel time to express milk be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay, and that employees may not be required to use paid leave for that time; these breastor chest-feeding breaks are in addition to existing meal and rest periods under chapter 49.12 RCW. The Department of Labor and Industries must provide and prominently display online education materials explaining employer and employee rights and responsibilities under these provisions. The bill creates a new public records exemption for records filed with or maintained by the Department of Labor and Industries under chapter 49.92 RCW that reveal the identity of, or contain personal information about, an employee or applicant who filed a complaint, requested assistance, or participated in an investigation; the department may release statistical or summary data that do not disclose individual identities. Specified disclosure exceptions permit release when necessary for fair determination to the complainant’s employer, to public employees performing official duties, in court or administrative proceedings when required or necessary for fair determination, and to the complainant. “Personal information” is defined to include items such as name, contact information, identifying photograph, and medical or health information related to pregnancy or childbirth. The act takes effect January 1, 2027. The extracted text does not include the actual language of RCW 49.92.010(6) so the specific accommodations excepted from written certification are not shown, and the editorial insertion referring to limits on lifting over 17 pounds and any cross-referenced section 8 are unclear from the provided material.

If enacted, employers will likely face new ongoing costs and policy changes: they must provide reasonable pregnancyand childbirth-related accommodations instead of forcing leave when another accommodation exists, may have to pay employees for break time and employer-identified travel time to express milk at their regular pay rate (and cannot force use of paid leave for that time), and will need procedures for handling accommodation requests and any allowed medical certifications. The Department of Labor and Industries will need to create and prominently post education materials and set up confidentiality protections for complaint records, which will reduce public access to individual complaint details while still allowing the department to share summary statistics and limited disclosures to employers, public employees, courts, and complainants. The people most affected are pregnant or postpartum employees who request accommodations (they gain stronger protections and privacy) and employers (who face higher direct pay costs for pumping breaks, possible administrative costs, and some limits on employment actions tied to accommodation needs). The bill takes effect January 1, 2027. Important details remain unclear from the provided text—specifically which accommodations are exempt from employer-requested medical certification and the referenced "limits on lifting over 17 pounds"—so exact employer obligations and verification steps could change once those specifics are filled in.